tIt’s the perfect gift for the classic spice lover in your life: The richer, more complex flavor of these homemade versions of two much-loved sauces will bring joy to the breakfast table in the New Year. Choose your favorite, or encourage them to broaden their culinary horizons by giving them one of each. You never know, it might change their lives.
Homemade tomato ketchup
to equip 15 minutes
cook 1 hour
Make
Memorizes
2 Banana shallots
1 roasted tomatoes with ketchup
To prepare the ketchup, preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C) /
2 Sift the tomatoes
Push the roasted tomatoes through a sieve into a large saucepan, scraping the underside of the sieve regularly to speed things up and working hard to ensure you get as much flesh as possible—by the time you’re done, you should be done. You are left with only a papery crust in the strainer, which you can now scrape and discard.
3 Add the allium, pepper, sugar and vinegar
Peel the shallots and garlic, and crush both lightly by crushing them with a large knife. Add them to the skillet of tomatoes along with the sugar, vinegar, and cayenne pepper – I use four, but if you’re less keen on heat, or use very intense varieties, you may want to cut the amount in half.
4 Cook until thickened, then season and place in the jar
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, for 20-25 minutes, until thickened. Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly, then pour in, discard the solids, and stir in the salt and any other spices you like (ground allspice or cumin and coriander, for example, or garam masala) to taste. Store in sterilized jars, preferably in the refrigerator, where it should be kept for up to three months.
Homemade brown sauce
to equip 20 minutes
cook 1 hour 30 minutes
Make
Memorizes
5 cm piece of fresh ginger
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Soak the tomatoes in the brown sauce
Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and put them together with the seeds and juices, all in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt, stir and let it steep for about an hour (a little longer won’t hurt), then drain and discard the salty liquid that the tomatoes are oozing out.
2 Add the flavors
Meanwhile, peel and core apples, and peel red onion, garlic, and ginger. Coarsely chop the apple, onion, ginger and dates, and chop the garlic finely. Put all these things in a large skillet with tomatoes, apple juice, tamarind, vinegar, black herb, and
3 Cook it until it becomes pulpy
Bring to a boil, allow to simmer briskly for five minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until contents are tender and soft and just beginning to crumble and blend together. Towards the end, stir occasionally to stop the mixture from burning and burning.
4 Add the spices
Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly, then blend with a stick blender (or use the jug of a blender) to reduce it to a puree, being careful as it will still be very hot. Crush the cloves and mustard seeds into a powder, then stir them into the sauce with ground allspice and cinnamon.
5 Reduce its intensity, then drag it
Bring the pot to a boil again, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, for another type
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Felicity Cloke is the author of Red Sauce, Brown Sauce: A British Breakfast Odyssey, published by Mudlark £16.99. To order a copy for £14.78, visit guardianbookshop.com